Try it again or take 290/291?

it2b

I failed 70-292 twice with a 592 both times. After discovering this forum I see I am not alone.

Has anyone had better success with pursuing 70-290/291 separately? I'm trying to decide whether to stay the course or pursue a different plan of attack to upgrade my MCSA.

petedude

Granted, I should hurry, but I've got other exams in line in front of my MCSE upgrade.

I couldn't find the 290/291 upgrade option anywhere on the Microsoft pages. Could someone point this out for me (and others), please?

Webmaster

It's not really an 'upgrade' option. The 70-292 covers topics from both the 290 and 290 exam but won't upgrade your MCSA/E.

sprkymrk

If you failed 292 twice, you might want to change your game plan to plan B. Taking 290 and 291 seperate will help you get past one speed bump at a time, and you may find that 290 is fairly easy. Beware, though, that 291 is every bit as tough as 292, but at least you can focus your studies on a smaller subset of topics.

it2b

sprkymrk wrote:

Beware, though, that 291 is every bit as tough as 292.

I think this is the one thing that's making me think about sticking it out.

I bought a transcender's and a Self test practice test. I am going to see if I make any progress with those. If I'm not feeling more confident after using these a bit, I will probably switch gears and take 290/291 separately.

royal

One thing I'd like to recommend when doing the practice exams is to look at every correct answer as well as the incorrect answers and know why all of them were either incorrect/correct. If you don't understand why it was correct/incorrect, go research the topic and learn. That will definitely help you achieving your passing score. Good luck and ask any questions you may have.

petedude

Webmaster wrote:

It's not really an 'upgrade' option. The 70-292 covers topics from both the 290 and 290 exam but won't upgrade your MCSA/E.

It's not an upgrade, but it does look possible to earn a new MCSE 2003 by virtue of possessing the earlier certs. They would just be treated as electives for the exam track.

It would seem to be an option if one doesn't get done with the 2003 upgrade exams by the March deadline. Take 290/291, have the MCSE+MCSA in 2000 (and an A+) in hand, you've probably taken the supporting Windows 2K exam (ok, they might not let you apply that one a third time) and poof! new MCSE 2003.

EDIT: Silly me. I stand corrected!
Looking over the M$ site again, it appears possible to upgrade the MCSA with only two exams, but not the MCSE. If you have an MCSA 2000, MCSE 2000, A+ and Network+-- you'll probably have the requisite operating systems exam tucked away already-- boom, upgrade to MCSA 2003!
Given an upcoming job change, I will probably pursue the 2-exam upgrade for my MCSA and skip the MCSE 2003 upgrade, waiting to take the 2008 upgrades later.